What is Manhwa?
This was all written by Danae Cassandra, but I plan to expand on it when possible. I'm keeping it as is because I think it's a wonderful resource, so I'm leaving her words as is in the hopes that she doesn't mind. She's explained things far more eloquently than I could.
Simply, manhwa is the Korean word for comics. In the West we are using their word for comics to refer to comics that originate in South Korea (as nothing is getting out of North Korea).In the US they are being marketed as manga, but despite similarities, they are not the same. Manga, the better known word, are Japanese comics. While US publishers may not see the differences, and while influences may run in both directions, Korean artists and writers see their manhwa as distinct and different from Japanese manga (as, indeed, do the Japanese).
The same Chinese characters are used as the basis for the words manga and manhwa (along with Chinese comics - manhua), this is why the words look similar. Each language uses its own native pronunciation for the word, but the same letters. Manhwa is also sometimes spelled manwha in the US, but the Korean ambassador to the US has indicated that the correct spelling is manhwa.
A notable difference between manga and manhwa is that manwha are meant to be read left to right, as the Korean script is read in this fashion, whereas manga are meant to be read right to left in Japanese. The other differences come from the cultural and historical background that these comics are created in.
A similarity that manhwa shares with manga is that both produce comics in a variety of genres as opposed to the lack of genre variety in American comics.
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